Analysis Construction Sponge City Initiative could fix Mena’s growing flood threat A Dubai-based company is in talks with authorities across the Middle East about bringing a revolutionary “sponge city” concept to the region following the UAE’s recent record levels of rainfall which led to loss of life and flood damage. Dake Rechsand, which specialises in sustainability solutions for water conservation, rainwater harvesting and stormwater management, exhibited […] October 4, 2022
Real Estate New PIF firm to build mixed-use destinations in 12 Saudi cities Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and chairman of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has launched Saudi Downtown Company (SDC), which seeks to build and develop downtown areas and mixed-use destinations in 12 Saudi cities. The cities include Madinah, Al Khobar, Al Ahsa, Buraidah, Najran, Jazan, Hail, Al Baha, Arar, Taif, Dumat Al Jandal, and Tabuk. […] October 4, 2022
Construction Kuwait tenders for work at new city for 280,000 residents Kuwait’s housing authority has issued a tender to build and maintain the roads and main infrastructure network for South Sabah Al-Ahmad City, which is slated to home 280,000 people. Located 80 kilometres south of the country’s capital, South Sabah Al-Ahmad City will have 10 neighbourhoods clustered around a central business district that architects Foster + […] October 3, 2022
Real Estate Dubai’s latest property craze: luxury underground bunkers A Swiss design firm is tapping into the latest must-have property desire for the UAE’s super rich – luxury underground bunkers. Prices start from $10 million and the developments are used for everything from pools and garages to panic rooms and secure meeting rooms. Oppidum, a design firm established in 2015 in Lucerne by entrepreneur […] October 2, 2022
Exclusive Tech Metaverse will boost online home sales ‘five-fold’, says Damac One of Dubai’s largest real estate developers is already close to $500 million in property sales each year online – and the metaverse is expected to help this grow more than five-fold when it is fully utilised as a selling channel. Many observers may be sceptical about the nascent Web3 sector, but Damac Properties is […] September 30, 2022
Analysis Real Estate Saudi developer to sell utility NFTs on its $1.6bn Oman project Saudi Arabia’s largest listed real estate developer plans to drop a limited number of utility non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for its $1.6 billion project in Oman next month. Unlike the art and collectibles digital asset, utility non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are built to give their holders certain perks, such as exclusive access to events and items or […] September 29, 2022
Construction Nakheel sold 29 homes on stalled Palm Jebel Ali, official data shows Palm Jebel Ali, the Dubai mega project set to be relaunched soon by developer Nakheel, sold a total of 29 homes before work on the project was halted in 2009. State-owned developer Nakheel has confirmed it was set to relaunch the manmade, palm-shaped, island project, which is said to be one-and-a-half times the size of […] September 28, 2022
EXCLUSIVE Economy ‘Everyone’s attacking Truss but her plan will attract foreign investors’, says Damac exec The British government's plans to reduce taxes and planning red tape will attract Gulf investors, says Damac executive Ali Sajwani September 28, 2022
EXCLUSIVE Construction Nakheel confirms relaunch of Palm Jebel Ali Dubai state-owned developer Nakheel has confirmed it is planning to relaunch the Palm Jebel Ali master project, as it looked to take advantage of record demand for real estate in the emirate. Palm Jebel Ali is one of a series of manmade, palm-shaped island projects off the coast of Dubai. Launched in 2002, it stalled […] September 28, 2022
Turkey mulls new regulations to prevent stock market manipulation Turkish authorities are expected to make stock market regulatory changes within a few days to prevent market manipulation after sharp falls in prices due to margin calls on futures positions, market participants and analysts said. They said the issue was likely to be among those discussed at a meeting which President Tayyip Erdogan convened on […] September 25, 2022
Analysis Tourism From Bulgari to Versace: Dubai’s rich splash out on branded homes The UAE is expected to attract the largest net inflow of high net worth individuals globally in 2022 – and with that comes a growing demand for luxury housing. Catering to this income bracket, the branded residences sector has grown by 230 percent across the world over the past decade. Savills, the real estate services […] September 25, 2022
Transport France’s Alstom signs Saudi deal for hydrogen-powered trains State-owned Saudi Railway Company (SAR) has signed a memorandum of understanding with France’s Alstom to develop hydrogen trains for the kingdom. Saudi Arabia in investing heavily to expand its public rail and metro networks and will build 8,000 kilometres of new track, officials said in January. SAR operates the Haramain High Speed Rail between Mecca […] September 22, 2022
Analysis Real Estate ‘Jury’s still out’ on hybrid working, says top fund manager “The jury’s still out” on the post-pandemic model of working partly in the office and partly at home, according to a leading UAE real estate investment trust (REIT) manager. Thierry Leleu, CEO of Equitativa, told AGBI that the “office sector is a sector that we are confident in here in the UAE.” Equitativa is manager […] September 21, 2022
Real Estate Pakistan property sees surge in Gulf-based interest Pakistan’s real estate sector has seen increased interest from Gulf-based investors over the last year, according to data from the country’s largest property portal. The Pakistan Property Show was held in Dubai’s World Trade Centre earlier this month. With over 60 exhibitors, it attracted around 20,000 attendees, including Sultan Butti Bin Mejren, director general of […] September 19, 2022
Analysis Real Estate Rents near record levels in Dubai as interest rates bite House price growth in Dubai fell to its slowest rate in 18 months in August, with experts saying that the rising cost of mortgages is starting to impact the market. While the city’s real estate sector is hitting record highs, rising interest rates are putting the squeeze on some landlords. As a result rents are […] September 15, 2022
Construction Saudi Arabia signs off $6.6bn funding for infrastructure projects Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance has signed financing agreements with several local banks worth SAR 25 billion ($6.6 billion) to implement infrastructure projects The National Debt Management Center arranged the agreements, the ministry said in a statement. The infrastructure projects are scheduled to start in 2023 and 2024. In August, Saad Al-Shahrani, acting deputy minister for […] September 15, 2022
Real Estate Burj Khalifa broke its sales record in 2021 – and is set to do it again The Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, recorded its highest residential sales in volume and value last year – and is on track to break that record in 2022. Data from property consultancy Knight Frank and real estate analytics portal REIDIN shows that the volume of residential transactions at the Dubai skyscraper hit 106 in […] September 14, 2022
Construction Building permits up 43% from last year in Qatar Qatar recorded a 43 percent year-on-year increase in the number of building permits issued by various municipalities in August 2022, reaching 784 licenses, the state-owned Qatar News Agency reported, citing the Planning and Statistics Authority. New building permits (residential and non-residential) accounted for 43 percent, or 337 licenses, of the total building permits issued last […] September 12, 2022
Real Estate Dubai on alert as distressed assets become a real possibility Dubai’s real estate sector may be hitting record highs but rising interest rates are putting the squeeze on some landlords, leading to increased opportunities to snap up distressed assets in the coming year. “I had that conversation actually a couple of days ago with one of the local banks,” Thierry Leleu, chief executive officer of […] September 12, 2022
Real Estate Saudi Arabia’s housing loans hit $170bn in Q2 2022 Mortgage loans to individuals and corporates by commercial banks in Saudi Arabia grew to SAR 638 billion ($170 billion) in Q2 2022, from SAR 211 billion in 2017, Arab News reported, citing Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing Majid Al-Hogail. The ambition is to make the kingdom top the world in the mortgage […] September 8, 2022
Real Estate Dubai real estate trust eyes Saudi after $400m refinancing Equitativa, the manager of Emirates REIT real estate investment trust, is looking to expand beyond Dubai once it concludes the refinancing of its $400 million sukuk within the next two months. The firm is also keen to launch new real estate trusts outside the UAE, in Saudi Arabia and Africa. Founded in 2010, the Emirates […] September 7, 2022
Real Estate PIF-backed refinance firm aims to raise around $800m via sukuk Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co (SRC), the Saudi equivalent of US mortgage finance business Fannie Mae, will soon issue around SAR 3 billion ($798.34 million) in local currency sukuk, or Islamic bonds, its chief executive said on Tuesday. HSBC, Bank AlJazira, Al Rajhi, Riyad Capital and SNB Capital are running the debt sale, which is […] September 7, 2022
